Auren opens legal practice in Seville with new partner
Auren has appointed Francisco José Fernández Romero as a new partner to open the firm’s Legal practice in Seville, marking the launch of a national Public-Private Collaboration area under his leadership. The move forms part of Auren’s national expansion strategy, backed by its investment partner Waterland Private Equity.
Fernández Romero holds a doctorate in Law and has more than 25 years of experience advising the public sector. Before joining Auren, he was managing partner of Cremades & Calvo-Sotelo in Andalusia. Throughout his career he has held senior legal positions including corporate and risk legal director at Ayesa, legal director at KPMG in Andalusia, and head of procurement for public infrastructure companies at the Junta de Andalucía. He is also a professor at Universidad Loyola and previously directed its Master’s programmes in Legal Practice and Corporate Legal Advisory. He was awarded the Gold Medal for Professional Merit by Spain’s Ministry of Labour.
His practice focuses on the public sector, public procurement and governance, advising both public administrations and private companies in infrastructure, energy, water, transport and technology. He has worked on complex tender processes, administrative restructuring, concessions, operational audits, public asset sales and corporate transactions linked to technological innovation, and in recent years has concentrated on public-private collaboration, investment attraction, digital transformation, artificial intelligence, data governance and compliance.
New national practice area
With Fernández Romero’s arrival, Auren is setting up a national Public-Private Collaboration area to provide advice on public procurement, technology, innovation, governance and business investment projects, serving both administrations and private companies in sectors such as infrastructure, energy, water, education, healthcare, ports, transport and social services.
The opening of the Legal division in Seville adds to Auren’s existing office in Málaga, reinforcing its presence in Andalusia, where the firm aims to double its team and revenue over the next three years through organic growth, talent hires, new technology and innovation capabilities, and the integration of additional firms. Following this hire, Auren’s Seville office is composed of six partners: Fernández Romero in Legal; Silvia Sánchez, Félix Muñoz and Cristóbal Montes in Audit; and Arancha Roca and Armando Rendón in Consulting. Combined, the Seville and Málaga offices employ close to 80 professionals across the Consulting, Legal and Audit divisions.
Auren expects this integration, together with other moves completed or planned in the coming months, to help the firm close the year with revenue close to €150 million. In Spain, the firm reported €104 million in revenue last year.
Executive commentary
Mario Alonso, president of Auren, said: “the trajectory and market knowledge of Francisco J. Fernández Romero and his team complement our capabilities at a national level and allow us to keep growing in a strategic territory such as Andalusia.” He added: “his trajectory and knowledge complement our capabilities and allow us to keep growing in services. With his incorporation we take another step in our model of integrated solutions, reinforcing proximity and the importance of providing service across the national territory from each of our offices.”
Francisco J. Fernández Romero said: “the future of legal advisory lies in integrating disciplines and building teams capable of delivering business solutions, combining legal knowledge with innovation, engineering and disruptive technologies. Joining Auren allows me to fully develop this vision in a firm that, with the backing of Waterland, has the investment capacity needed to bring in talent, add new capabilities and build an advisory model prepared for the challenges of the new economy.”
